It is a month since Alan Collins gave the government a 30 September deadline. He is now preparing a class action for up to 100 people who claim they were physically abused and locked in solitary confinement at Les Chênes in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Mr Collins said: ‘There’s been no response. What are the States proposing to do about Les Chênes? I haven’t a clue.’
He is set to begin court proceedings next week.
‘I feel very sorry for the Les Chênes folk. They hear publicly about the efforts made by the States to learn from the past and improve child protection, but there’s a group of people here who feel marginalised. It just doesn’t make sense.’
He said that a dozen former residents had come forward as a result of the JEP’s reporting on this issue in recent weeks.
‘They felt emboldened to do so as a result of the JEP coverage. They felt they were listened to. These are people who just really want recognition of the wrongs they were subjected to. For my part, I think they should have compensation. They have a range of issues, from a lack of education to mental health and general health issues. Some kind of compensation would make a considerable difference to their quality of life.’
Last month we reported on the story of one former resident of Les Chênes who claims he wrote ‘I hate Les Chênes School’ in his own blood on the walls while detained in solitary confinement. He told us: ‘They took away my childhood. I didn’t have a life from the age of 12 to 15. I had nothing. I was stripped naked. I was humiliated because I was having tantrums. I was then placed in that cell. At the time I thought it was normal because I wasn’t the only one being put in there. I now know, growing into adulthood, that it wasn’t normal.’
Among the 12 people who have come forward in recent weeks are people who are now living in the UK.
Mr Collins said that despite the statement given by the States to the JEP saying the Council of Ministers would consider a compensation scheme ‘later this year’, he has heard nothing directly.
‘There’s been no phone call. It feels like the whole issue is in suspended animation. It’s distressing for the survivors. They want to move on with their lives.’
The States of Jersey has been approached for comment about the impending legal action.
